Som Pourfarzaneh

Das Tal has come a long way since my preview of it last year. Fairytale Distillery’s vision and approach for it is ambitious, with the goal of offering an accessible but hardcore sandbox MMO experience that focuses on PvP, crafting, and skill-based combat. From what I’ve seen so far, Fairytale looks to be on the right track.

We’ve all got our must-have gameplay systems that absolutely need to be present to secure our patronage to a new MMO or RPG on the block. For some, it’s an in-depth crafting system that allows players to create the most powerful items in the game and corner the market with their wares. For others, it’s a fully realized PvP system that requires the use of different strategies and builds, with leaderboards and rewards to boot.

Although I haven’t played The Lord of the Rings Online since about the Siege of Mirkwood / Rise of Isengard era, there was a time when it was my go-to MMORPG regardless of what else I was playing. I’ve spent countless hours in Turbine’s representation of Middle-earth, and find that I still measure other MMOs up against the quality of their flagship title.

180+ hours into Guild Wars 2, I’ve only recently begun digging into its assortment of dungeons. Sure, I’ve dabbled in my fair share of pre-level cap PvP and open world small parties, but I’ve been waiting to hit 80 to sink my teeth into the game’s group content. As I mentioned in last week’s column, I’m no stranger to dungeons and raids in MMOs, and have historically sought out group content commensurate to my level.

Looking back, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was blundering through the halls of Gnomeregan, plundering the riches of vanilla World of Warcraft with a pickup group that probably knew even less about the game than I did.

I’m not quite sure how much money I spent on Magic Online when it initially began to gain some popularity, but I can tell you that even trying to estimate that number results in no small amount of embarrassment for me. I love TCGs, and have spent a good amount of time (and cash) dabbling in a range of games, from open-ended classics like Magic: The Gathering to more discrete releases such as The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

There’s no denying that the Baldur’s Gate series is foundational in the evolution of single-player RPGs. The gameplay in Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, along with their expansions, inspired a generation of isometric RPGs, including genre favorites Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale series.

As is appropriate for a convention with the name “Game Developers Conference,” GDC seems to be becoming more and more developer-centric and less a space for press reveals and previews. At GDC 2015 this past week, there was a noticeable trend towards showing off new tech, such as Nvidia’s Shield and Valve’s SteamVR, along with a host of new (or new versions of) indie games.

What does the inside of a Warhammer 40K hotel look like? That’s the kind of question that the folks at Pixel Hero Games are asking in the development of their new 3D action adventure game, Eisenhorn: Xenos. Eisenhorn follows the adventures of the titular character from the 40K trilogy by Dan Abnett, and explores a side of Games Workshop’s universe that has heretofore taken a backseat to more popular aspects like Space Marines: that of the Imperium.

Call it Baldur’s Gate nostalgia, call it Planescape: Torment elitism, but I’m a sucker for 3D isometric, party-based RPGs, and doubly so for games based in Dungeons and Dragons-inspired campaign settings. Enter Sword Coast Legends, a new Forgotten Realms-based RPG from n-Space and Digital Extremes that is being touted as an evolution of games like Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights and draws its inspiration from 5th Edition D&D.

It’s sometimes easier to describe a video game by what it’s not, and if you’ve taken even a passing glance at IllFonic’s new sandbox MMORPG, Revival, you’ll know that it prides itself on being nothing akin to a traditional MMO. Described by the developers as Ultima Online meets Skyrim, it’s a go anywhere, fight anyone type of game that prides itself on realism and player interaction.

When the original Defense of the Ancients rose to popularity as a mod for Warcraft III, I had already moved on from Blizzard’s RTS to the next hotness (probably Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time). Hence, it wasn’t until many years later that I became aware of DotA in its modern iteration, particularly as a reference point for new MOBAs like League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Demigod, Smite, and of course, DotA 2.

As MMO gamers, we’re conditioned to expect a handful of specific tropes in our favorite genre. When a new game hits the shelves, we’re certain to line it up against a series of checkboxes to determine if it represents our cultured interests. For some, that means an MMORPG has to have a solid character progression system and an open world worth interacting with and exploring.

Earlier this week, we posted our musings about Sony Online Entertainment’s acquisition by Columbus Nova and transition to Daybreak Game Company. It’s big news for fans of SOE...err...DGC’s games, particularly when considering the potential for seeing their titles released on platforms other than PC and PS3/PS4.

We’ve been waiting a good long while for any peep about a full-fledged expansion for Guild Wars 2. ArenaNet’s flagship has seen a host of Living World updates, gameplay and feature additions, and balance tweaks, but the promise of a canonical expansion has been elusive. Just last month, I wrote about some alternatives to GW2’s Living World, with an expansion being the obvious choice to drive the post-launch game forward and create a new revenue stream.